Heat guard Tyler Herro rolled his right ankle in the first quarter of Wednesday’s 108-102 win vs. the Grizzlies and after an MRI, the injury diagnosis is a Grade 2 ankle sprain, the Heat announced in a release.
As reported, Herro will be in a walking boot for 10 days and then re-evaluated in two weeks.
The injury occurred with under a minute left in the first quarter, when Herro pulled up for a tear-drop floater in the lane but landed on Jaren Jackson Jr.‘s foot. Thereupon, Herro immediately fell to the court agonizing in pain, and got up hopping on his other foot as he headed to the locker room. “Just spur of the moment,” Herro said after the game. “A floater, a shot that I shoot multiple times a game. Just unfortunate to land on his foot.”
This is definitely discourageable news for Herro, who has a history with injuries, as he was forced to miss the NBA Finals this past season with a broken right hand. “You know, it’s unfortunate, but I’m just going to continue to work hard,” he said. “I’ve been through this injury stuff before. I’m just going to keep working.”
The 23-year-old was off to a promising start in his fifth season, heading into Wednesday’s game, for he was averaging 25.3 points, 5.6 rebounds, and 5 assists while shooting 41% from 3-point range in almost 38 minutes per contest. Undoubtedly, the 2022 Sixth Man of the Year award winner was playing with a chip on his shoulder this season, after being the centerpiece asset for Damian Lillard trade rumors this offseason.
In fact, Herro has stated in multiple recent interviews that he was determined to make himself irreplaceable and will be showcasing himself as ‘too valuable to move’ heading forward.
So far this season, Herro has been the focal point of the Heat’s offense, that is to say in his absence, the team will have to find scoring from other players to attempt to replace his almost 30% usage rate and 21+ shot attempts per game.
Josh Richardson and Duncan Robinson will see an uptake in minutes, as the Heat hope to improve on their 4-4 record heading into their next game against the Atlanta Hawks on Saturday.
Milwaukee Bucks star point guard Damian Lillard is questionable to face the Indiana Pacers Thursday. Lillard is dealing with a calf injury. Lillard played 33 minutes against the Detroit Pistons last night. He finished with 34 points while shooting 10-of-25 from the field, 2-of-12 from beyond the arc and 12-of-13 from the free-throw line. The Bucks beat the Pistons by two points to improve to 5-2 on the season. Lillard is averaging 24.3 points, 4.4 rebounds and 4.7 assists for the Bucks this season while shooting 40.0% from the field, 29.3% from beyond the arc and 92.9% from the foul line. According to Chris Haynes of Bleacher Report, Lillard has been working out at Giannis Antetokounmpo’s house so that the Bucks stars can develop better chemistry. “But those two are working behind the scenes trying to get things together,” Haynes said on his podcast with Marc Stein. “I know Dame was at Giannis’ house over the weekend working out at his house. They were watching film. Those two are committed to trying to enhance each other collectively. And then in turn, that’s going to enhance the team’s play. “So they’re doing everything they can behind the scenes to try the make this situation be a successful situation. But it’s going to be a work in progress.” It will be interesting to see if Lillard plays against the Pacers. Since it’s so early in the season, there’s no point for the Bucks to play Lillard if he’s not 100%.
Although the initial quiet period with MLB free agency was lifted at the beginning of this week, the market largely is not expected to move until Shohei Ohtani makes a decision on which team to sign with. Ohtani was at the center of the buzz surrounding the general managers meetings in Scottsdale, Ariz., although Los Angeles Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman and general manager Brandon Gomes, along with other executives, declined to discuss specifics involving expected pursuits of Ohtani. The 29-year-old is a free agent for the first time in his career. When he last was on the open market after being posted by the Nippon Ham Fighters, it led to signing a modest contract due to restrictions on international free agents younger than 25 years old. Now Ohtani has a chance to sign what’s expected to be the most lucrative contract in MLB history, and according to ESPN’s Buster Olney, there’s some belief the two-way All-Star has decided which team to join: “A friend of Ohtani said he believes Ohtani already knows where he wants to sign. He’ll go through the process — standing back as his agent negotiates and works to goose the final numbers — but in the end, Ohtani will drive this thing. So maybe the bidding doesn’t matter that much, so long as the team he wants to play for steps up with a decent offer. And my guess is that’ll be the Dodgers. “ In addition to the Angels, Ohtani met with the Chicago Cubs, Texas Rangers, Dodgers, San Francisco Giants, San Diego Padres and Seattle Mariners when making the jump from Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) ahead of the 2018 MLB season. The Angels, Dodgers, Giants, Rangers and Mariners have been speculated as potential landing spots for Ohtani in free agency. Andrew Friedman determined to sign Shohei Ohtani The Dodgers’ interest in Ohtani has long been reported, and now with an opportunity to add the remarkable talent, Friedman reportedly is focused on coming to terms on a contract.
Per multiple reports, Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian announced the team’s starting quarterback against TCU for Saturday. The Longhorns were hopeful this week that Quinn Ewers could return for the first time since suffering an AC sprain against Houston on Oct. 21. Maalik Murphy has started for Texas since Ewers’ injury. Murphy has played well enough to help Texas win their previous two games, keeping the Longhorns in the hunt for the College Football Playoff. However, there is a noticeable drop-off in play between Ewers and Murphy, and Texas needs Ewers to be healthy. Steve Sarkisian: Ewers will start against TCU According to the Longhorn Network, Sarkisian announced Ewers will get the start against TCU. Ewers is 151-of-213 passing for 13 touchdowns and three interceptions this season. Ewers and the Texas offense will be playing a 4-5 TCU team that has underwhelmed a season after playing in the national title game. Ewers must ramp up against Texas’ remaining schedule of TCU, Iowa State and Texas Tech to prepare for the Big 12 Championship. If Texas can win their next four games, they should find a way into the CFP. Ewers is getting healthy at just the right time for Texas to make a playoff run.
Giants president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi identified a pair of areas the team could look to address this offseason. Speaking with reporters at the GM Meetings, he acknowledged that “center field is going to be a priority” (link via John Shea of the San Francisco Chronicle). Zaidi added the club could look for depth at shortstop. A desire for center field help is natural, considering Zaidi has already spoken of a goal of becoming more athletic in the outfield. Bringing in a center fielder is the most direct way of doing that, as it’d allow new skipper Bob Melvin to keep Mike Yastrzemski in a corner. Rookie Luis Matos had below-average defensive marks in his first 438 innings at the position. Cody Bellinger is the prize of the center field market. Players like Harrison Bader, Michael A. Taylor and Kevin Kiermaier are glove-first options who’d improve the defense – albeit with a significantly lower offensive ceiling than Bellinger provides – at a much lower price. Zaire’s stance on shortstop walks back comments from last month a little bit. At the time, the front office leader said that 22-year-old Marco Luciano would get “the chance to be the everyday guy.” While Zaidi reiterated the organization is hopeful that Luciano seizes the job, he acknowledged yesterday “it makes sense for us to have some insurance.” That could point more towards a depth addition than a rebound flier on Tim Anderson or Amed Rosario. It’s a thin free agent class, with Isiah Kiner-Falefa, Nick Ahmed and Kevin Newman among available glove-first options. Longtime shortstop Brandon Crawford is also a free agent and indicated this week that he is still deciding whether to continue his career. Meanwhile, Jon Heyman of the New York Post writes that the Giants are considering an upgrade at third base. J.D. Davis played reasonably well in 2023, hitting .248/.325/.413 across 546 plate appearances. Statcast credited him with above-average defense at the hot corner, although Defensive Runs Saved was far more bearish. Matt Chapman has ties to Melvin from their time in Oakland. He’d be a marked upgrade over Davis with the glove. Free agency’s top third baseman may not be that much better than Davis offensively, however. Chapman struggled down the stretch and finished the season with a .240/.330/.424 slash through 581 plate appearances for the Blue Jays.
